Housing authority wants to buy old Joliet Country Club

The Housing Authrority of Joliet wants to develop housing and retail on the site of the now closed Joliet Country Club.

HAJ is hoping that $9.25 million in proposed federal funding will come through to quicken purchase of the 147-acre property and begin development.

U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, has included the funding in his proposal for the new Community Projects Funding program being consider by Congress.

“The master plan for the 147 acres would move much faster if everything lined up in the beginning,” HAJ Chairman Angel Contreras said Thursday.

Contreras said the country club plan is an extension of similar projects done by HAJ “except on a higher scale.”

HAJ through its nonprofit development arm has developed the Liberty Meadow Estates and Water’s Edge subdivisions in Joliet.

“This is not just affordable housing,” Contreras said of the country club plan. “It’s bigger than that. It’s almost an entire community.”

HAJ hopes to bring retail, including a grocery store, and other commercial development to the site while retaining the attractive features and landscape of the country club property.

“It has some unique features,” HAJ Chief Executive Officer Michael Simelton said. “It has a new clubhouse. It has a swimming pool. It has ponds on the site. It has nice trees.”

Simelton said HAJ has made preliminary contact with the country club owners to determine the asking price for the property.